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Compare Prices on Carnival Triumph Western Caribbean Cruises

Same Jokes, Same programs but great Service!

Sail Date:
December 2008

Destination:
Western Caribbean

Embarkation:
Miami

Embarkation was very stress free and easy, only headache was that they had mixed up who was staying in what room and this continued to plague us the whole week even after we had changed everything at the Guest Services Counter.
Yes the lines are long as everyone says everywhere you go and you just have to bare with it.
You will need to be patient with things like getting your breakfast and lunch, getting an elevator etc.
Big suggestion is to have dinner in the dining room each night...the food is wonderful compared to the buffet given the shrimp, steak, ribs, pasta, and salads offered. The service is fantastic and it's a nice atmosphere to spend time with your family or friends for dinner conversation rather then a cafeteria style buffet restaurant.
The spa is a hoax...they over charged us time and time again and it took my husband 3 fulls days to make sure they got their accounting straight, it was very stressful and did not make for a relaxing vacation given the More
errors in billing the manager at the spa made. The body wrap was very good but it's not worth the hassels and even the discounted price is too much, when I can get the same thing for cheaper at a spa on land.
Defiantly do use the exercise facilities though, very nice and clean and lots of equipment to keep you fit.
The Lido deck is great for sunning and taking a dip in the pool or hot tubs. Tip: take a half day excursion on a port day and then spend the other half on the Lido deck swimming and in the hot tub etc without all the hundreds of kids splashing in the pool and all the people saving all the deck chairs...it's so relaxing on the port days!
The 'World' theme of the ship was pretty much NOT what it was made out to be when reading about the ship on the Carnival site. The Paris and London dining rooms looked nothing like Paris or London..they were fancier nice dining rooms but there was no theme in them, nor was there on most of the ship. The best theme was Tokyo Underground with the caves..that was really well done, and the Vienna Cafe was quite nice, otherwise it wasn't that highly themed. I guess the Carnival Designer got a little more creative with the newer ships like the Valor, which I was on in 2007.
The Cruise Director Ryan was a good guy..although the jokes he told must be out of the cruise directors manual because they told the same jokes on the Valor the year before. The Shows were different, the comedian was so so, the dancer shows were out of this World and the majic guys were good but it was easy to figure out their tricks.
Overall the staff was excellent as usual, as Carnival prides itself on service, the rooms were great except for the fact my parents oceanview was reaking of smoke from day one and those ionizer machines didn't help too much, it sort of ruined their experience in their room.
I would sail with the Triumph again if I got a great deal as the staff made the experience a good one. As people say..the experience is what you make it! Less

Compare Prices on Carnival Triumph Western Caribbean Cruises

Cabin review: 6A

A 6A room...Great balcony, great location on the spa deck, the washroom was very spacious considering your on a ship. Lots of closet space for your belongings. Super clean given the room stewards clean it 2 times a day!
I would suggest given Carnival is making millions that they upgrade to flat panel TV's in each room as this would give you more space and a better picture, and I'm sure they could get a deal on them!

Port and Shore Excursions

What can I say other then WOW! Cozumel is beautiful! My dad said it was the most beautiful view of the ocean he had ever seen, and that's huge given my dad is very much the kind of guy that thinks Canada has the best scenery in all the world with Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, etc.
Cozumel is so small that you can drive a car or jeep around the entire island in an hour. I recommend other then doing tours all day that you rent a jeep or car and just go exploring. I have been to Cozumel on several occasions and it's always been an amazing vacation. The people are so sweet and kind. The driving isn't that bad, given my father in his 60's got around on his own with my mother just fine while my husband and I went snorkeling.
Suggest taking your jeep/car along the coast to look at the amazing beach that runs for miles, stop at Coconuts bar and Grill on the cliff (you will not be disappointed!) and have a margarita and some tacos or their amazing Guac and tortillas. Then to work off the Guac and Tortillas suggest parking along the beach line and going for a swim, they have lifeguards on duty daily all along the coast, it is VERY rough waves, and a big undertow, so if you are not a strong swimmer stay at the edge to cool off. Jumping the waves is so much fun, the whole family did this for 2 hours, we weren't even out very far given the strong undertow and it was still just as amazing. Unfortunately we had to pack up as we had to be back on board by 4:30 and we still hadn't done any shopping. It was definitely not enough time in Cozumel. So much to see and do.
Oh I suggest the Stingray encounter tour, they have just recently built this facility after the hurricane 4 years ago...wonderful facilities, yes the stingrays are penned in and not just roaming free on the ocean but they are very well fed and cared for. I was uncomfortable at first b/c I am very against having these animals captive for tourist amusement, but the guides used a lot of care with them and made sure no one was doing anything to harm them. It was amazing to swim with them and hold them and feed them. I will definitely name the experience one of my 10 best. Say Hi to Toni and his guys if you visit!

Grand Cayman was a let down, it's filled with hotels and closed up houses and shops. There a few banks spread out everywhere but other then that wasn't much to see and we went on a 5km walk, the public beach we stopped at to cool off was full of lava rock so unless you bring water shoes you can only dip your feet in the water and look for seashells and sit on the beach with the little hermit crabs.
The StingRay City adventure tour was canceled due to rough waters the day we were in port and I was really disappointed. Although the waters were a little rough I've been out snorkeling in worse and still had a great time and view of the fish, but I guess they did it for safety reasons and maybe that people would get sea sick with the waves.
I wouldn't purposely book a trip to Grand Caymen ever given it was just OK and not a spectacular place to visit. The only things I would say they have going for them is great diving, snorkeling and the Sting Ray sand bar.

Suggest you do the Mystic Mountain Tour, where you take a chair lift up this gorgeous mountain, and you have options to do the bobsledding (SO FUN!) or zip lining, which is so so...it's kinda small. Anyway it's the greatest view of Jamaica from the lookout and just the chair lift up the mountain is amazing to be surrounding in the lush green forest.
Dunn's River Falls is nice but I've seen more beautiful sites, and the harassment you get to buy wooden carvings etc is not worth going there! I would suggest if you are looking for a hassle free experience without having to worry about people begging you to buy stuff and begging for tips left right and center that you go to Mystic Mountain instead because there is absolutely NO harassment up there!